Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2001 15:03:45 -0500 Message-Id: <200110292003.f9TK3jk09782@envy.delorie.com> From: DJ Delorie To: djgpp-workers AT delorie DOT com In-reply-to: <3BDD0D9A.A26EF8CC@phekda.freeserve.co.uk> (message from Richard Dawe on Mon, 29 Oct 2001 08:04:42 +0000) Subject: Re: Assertions in library code? References: <3BDD0D9A DOT A26EF8CC AT phekda DOT freeserve DOT co DOT uk> Reply-To: djgpp-workers AT delorie DOT com Errors-To: nobody AT delorie DOT com X-Mailing-List: djgpp-workers AT delorie DOT com X-Unsubscribes-To: listserv AT delorie DOT com Precedence: bulk > What is the position on using assert in library code? (I'll update the > knowledge base development section with the answer.) In libc? I would think that in most of the cases where you would want an assertion, what you really want is an error check and to return an error code. If a bad thing *can* happen, we need to deal with it, not just hope it doesn't happen. Normally with assert.h, you would build final versions with -DNDEBUG to take out the assertion checks. I think you end up with something that isn't tested as well as it should be, because now the code is different. But I'd have to see the specific cases to decide.